Watch above: Saskatoon has garnered the dubious distinction of holding the number one position in the country when it comes to crime. Wendy Winiewski finds out how city officials feel about the numbers released today from Statistics Canada.
OTTAWA – Saskatoon had the highest police-reported crime rate in the country during 2014, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday. The agency said the three per cent increase from 2013 was primarily driven by more break and enters.
Overall, there were 8,229 crimes reported for every 100,000 population. The rate is calculated by adding up the number of all Criminal Code offenses reported to police and dividing by the population.
According to numbers released by the agency, there were 763 break and enters for every 100,000 people, the highest rate in Canada. That was a 29 per cent increase from the previous year.
READ MORE: Saskatchewan maintains highest crime rates in Canada
Saskatoon also had the dubious distinction of leading the country in motor vehicle thefts, at a rate of 416 per 100,000 people, up nine per cent from 2013.
Statistics Canada also reported the crime severity index (CSI), which measures both the volume and seriousness of crime, rose by 10 per cent in Saskatoon between 2013 and 2014, giving the city the highest rate in the country for the first time since 1998 when CSI data first became available.
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For violent crime, Saskatoon had the second highest CSI rate, behind Thunder Bay but ahead of Winnipeg and Regina. Prior to 2014, Regina had consistently recorded the highest CSI in Canada.
It’s a hard pill to swallow for some community leaders.
“We’re a victim of our own success sometimes. In that, we keep encouraging people to report everything to us, it doesn’t matter how small the details are,” said Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison.
But the chief of police says there’s no denying it.
“I don’t think any city ever wants to be labelled with having the highest crime rate in Canada,” said police Chief Clive Weighill.
READ MORE: Drug addiction big factor in Saskatoon vehicle break-ins
“We’ve seen an increase in the drug trade. Methamphetamine is causing us problems, that’s what’s really driving our property crime. Theft of vehicles, theft from vehicles, it’s been a really hard city to police this last while.”
The United Way of Saskatoon also believes homelessness contributes to crime in a big way.
“When you’re homeless your array of choices are different. Many people who are homeless are suffering from mental health addictions that are untreated,” said Myrna Potter, the CEO of United Way of Saskatoon.
In 2013, the United Way began work to end homelessness in Saskatoon.
So far, 24 chronically homeless individuals have been housed. Their incarceration rates have fallen from 40 to 11 and the number of times they’ve been placed in police detention for intoxication has dropped from 89 to 9 – proof that curbing crime is not just a matter for the police.
“The contact with police has decreased from 316 interactions down to 116 interactions for those folks,” said Potter.
Wendy Winiewski contributed to this story
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